there are few songs quite like althea that move me the way they do. just ask john mayer, this was the song that turned him onto the dead, and if it's good enough for a guitar hero like him, it's gotta be good enough for you too! i have listened to a number of versions of this song, but none carry the same weight as this specific version. the sheer emotion and timbre expressed throughout the entire song are unparalleled in my opinion, and for those of you who are unfamiliar with the beautiful song i have attached the lyrics, a youtube link to the song, and my interpretation of what they mean. it's taken me many years of listening to this song to fully understand what was happening, and even now i may be misinterpreting elements of it. if you are unfamiliar with the song, scroll to the bottom of this post where the lyrics are attached and refer back to them as necessary.
the song takes form as a conversation between the man, narrator and the woman, in this case being althea. my interpretation of the song is that the narrator does not know exactly what he wants. althea wants to love him, and wants to be there for him, but the narrator tends to be dramatic and non-committal and has trust issues. althea hears what he is saying, but wants him to just relax for a minute while they figure this out. the line "althea told me, now cool down boy / settle back easy, jim" sums it up perfectly. this line especially resonates with me as i think i tend to be a bit dramatic of a lover, and its refreshing to have a woman tell me "calm down, let's figure it out. it'll be okay" (super important to remember!!!)
from there the narrator begins to talk about althea as if she is not there. in the context of this song, it is a bit like a soliloquy, and robert hunter's references to "hamlet" plays nicely into that shakespearean reference (even going as far to steal a line from the "to be or not to be soliloquy - see if you can point it out). the fate of ophelia that the narrator is describing is a reference to hamlet where her father died and she lost her mind and fell into a river and drowned. he begins to point out the flaws of this woman, looking for reasons why he should not fall in love this this woman, and justify his desire to not want to be tied down by a woman, which he will touch on later in the song. while we know he is just looking for excuses, this is just a tactic that we use to avoid feeling like we are going to be hurt. we would rather create these scenarios in our own head to detract from the reality.
the next verse is from the perspective of althea, as a response to his concerns about herself. she tells him that his concerns are all in his own head, they are not really manifesting themselves in this world. she continues to try to assure him that he will be better off with her, furthering her own interests, saying "you're gonna want a bed to lay your head / and a little sympathy" which she is ready to offer.
the bridge is fascinating to me in this song. it could really be coming from either the narrator or althea. it's at this point of the song i believe that althea has realized her efforts are being wasted on this man who cannot commit to her. "the time has come to weigh those things" is a beautiful way of saying "shit or get off of the pot" which is such a difficult thing to hear in romance. you may care greatly about someone, but not be in the right place to love them the way they need to be loved, and that is okay, but it's important to communicate that effectively, or else someone will get hurt. in this particular case, the two of them are realizing that one of them is going to be hurt, because their interests are so polar opposite.
this final verse of the song culminates the relationship of the narrator and althea. the narrator has experienced that there is nothing he can say to sway althea from not loving him, and as most people do when they realize their behavior can be tolerated while still receiving affection, is continue it. however this time, althea is no longer having it. this is where my favorite line of the song comes in. "i told althea, i'm a roving sign / that i was born to be a bachelor / althea told me, ok that's fine / so now i'm trying to catch her" no sooner than the narrator realizes that althea is no longer interested in him, he realizes that he actually wanted the same things as her all along. that the concerns that he had, were the same concerns she had. that the desire to be with this person you love, is the only thing he wanted as well, and while althea wanted to tell him the things he wanted to hear, he was not being receptive to them. this verse especially hits hard. the old expression that "you don't know how good you've got it til it's gone" is very applicable here, where the narrator doesn't realize how much he needs the love of althea and how much he needs to love her. but at that point, it's too late. she has moved on and is done wasting her energy on him.
inevitably the love cannot flourish, and it's not that the two didn't care about each other, it's just the age old story of "wrong place, wrong time". the two so obviously loved each other, but the realization that neither was in the right place to commit to one another makes this song unlike most love songs, and is much more akin to the type of love i have personally experienced. where you’d rather spend your time fighting about meaningless nonsense than actually loving each other.
the video clip attached above is me playing along to the first solo from the 5/16/80 version of this song. i find that this guitar solo encompasses all of the emotions of this song that have been conveyed at that point and foreshadows what is to come. it is simply sublime, and the melody will carry on through my head for years to come (maybe yours too). for the full version of this particular song, here is a link to youtube to listen to it (highly recommended)
althea - grateful dead
i told althea i was feeling lost
lacking in some direction
althea told me upon scrutiny
that my back might need protection
i told althea that treachery
was tearing me limb from limb
althea told me, now cool down boy
settle back easy, jim
you may be saturday's child all grown
moving with a pinch of grace
you may be a clown in the burying ground
or just another pretty face
you may be the fate of ophelia
sleeping and perchance to dream
honest to the point of recklessness
self-centred to the extreme
ain't nobody messin' with you but you
your friends are getting most concerned
loose with the truth, maybe its your fire
baby i hope you don't get burned
when the smoke has cleared, she said
that's what she said to me
you're gonna want a bed to lay your head
and a little sympathy
there are things you can replace
and others you cannot
the time has come to weigh those things
this space is gettin' hot
you know this space is gettin' hot
i told althea, i'm a roving sign
that i was born to be a bachelor
althea told me, ok that's fine
so now i'm trying to catch her
can't talk to you without talking to me
we're guilty of the same old things
thinking a lot about less and less
and forgetting the love we bring
~ matt